Another great musician joins the heavenly band

[kev3inp]

We got some very sad news this morning on MSN. One of Diane and my favorite musicians has passed away from complications of lung cancer. You all probably never heard of him. His name was Kenny Rankin and he'd been around since the 60's, first as kind of a folk guy, then as a premier jazz musician. This was the guy that Paul got to play "Blackbird" when he and John were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

You know how some couples have a song that's theirs? Well, for us, it was Kenny's "Haven't We Met." He was probably best known for a song called "Peaceful" that was a big hit for Helen Reddy. He has a DVD out that I've always thought had the best sound that I've ever heard. It's just like being in the audience.

If you like jazz guitar and jazz vocalists I respectfully suggest you check out his stuff on youtube. We had the pleasure of seeing him in person from the 3rd row a few years back and we're exceeingly saddened by the fact that we'll never have that experience again.

[yeehayashi]

Kev,

I've been a BIG Kenny Rankin fan going all the way back to the 1974 Silver Morning LP. He was a fantastic vocalist, musician, & songwriter whose talents didn't get the recognition he deserved; he was truly a musician's musician. I only got to see him perform live once right after the release of the Kenny Rankin Album (which is my all-time favorite) and it was an amazing concert. His renditions of so many different styles of music and his re-interpretations of the Beatles, jazz standards and other songs from the American Songbook made him impossible to categorize but that was what made him such an amazing artist. Many of my friends had no clue about Kenny, but I'd often have his music playing at home and once they heard that voice, they were hooked as fans. He was also a fantastic guitarist as you are well aware.. God, what talent!

I'd been hoping that he'd make it to Denver this year and he indicated that he was working on scheduling a stop here a few months ago but fate dealt a blow and that'll never happen now. I've at least got the lion's share of his music catalog to listen to & cherish.

There was a re-broadcast of an interview with him conducted by Pete Fornatele from 2003 this afternoon on WFUV in New York and it was both wonderful & bittersweet. He performed live renditions of some of his music during this interview so that was a big treat. If you missed it, you can catch it as an archived show in the next couple weeks. Another radio show will air tomorrow morning Sun. @ 09:00a.m. on www.WTBQ.com which will be a tribute to Kenny.

Kenny leaves a huge void for his loved ones, friends & fans. We will miss him terribly.

[dpmusic70]

Being from New York I recognized the name Pete Fornatele. Do you know where I can catch those radio interviews that you speak of? I have been a fan of Kenny Rankin since the late 60's. I have seen him live over 10 times between New York and Florida. I will miss him but am thankful that I do have most of his recorded music.

[yeehayashi]

Hi Dpmusic, nice to hear from Kevin's other half Pete's show is called Mixed Bag on WFUV (the public radio station @ Fordham Univ). His show airs on Saturday from 18:00 to 20:00 ET. Pete was obviously very fond of Kenny and the show had a funny moment where Pete played an interview clip from almost 30 years ago; Kenny's NYC accent was pretty pronounced in his speaking voice back then. Btw, I know that there has been some discussion that Kenny's newest record label is making plans to reissue all of his older out-of-print LPs (except for the Xmas cd).

[dpmusic70]

Thanks Yeehayashi. It's nice to speak to you too. That's great news about the reissue's. I have the Christmas one and Kevin found "Hiding In Myself" on CD I think on Amazon.com. Of course we ordered it. I have it somewhere on tape but I can't find it. Let me know if you hear anything else.